Gyaru-moji
Encyclopedia
is a style of obfuscated (cant
) Japanese writing
popular amongst Japan
ese young people. It is also called Heta-moji (heta means poor (in hand writing)). Like the English
phenomenon of SMS language
, it is most often used for sending cell phone text messages, but while text is used as a form of informal shorthand, a message typed in gyaru-moji usually requires more characters and effort than the same message typed in plain Japanese. Since writing in gyaru-moji requires extra effort, and due to the perception of confidentiality
, sending gyaru-moji messages to a peer is seen as a sign of informality or friendship. The origins of this style is unclear but it has been proposed that magazines targeted at teenage girls first made it popular, and the phenomenon started to gain wider attention in media around 2002.
Like leet
, gyaru-moji replaces characters with visually similar characters or combinations of characters. Hiragana
consisting of connected strokes are replaced by symbols or Greek
letters: for example, す (su) may be rendered as the section symbol
and hiragana ma) or
), and た (ta) may be typed as
is frequently replaced by similar-looking kanji
, such as 世 for セ (se) or 干 for チ (chi), in a reversal of the process that turned man'yōgana into kana
. Kana and rōmaji may be mixed freely, even within a word, and Latin letters
in rōmaji may be replaced with similar-looking Cyrillic letters, such as replacing N with И (Cyrillic I
). Compound kanji
are decomposed into left and right elements, which are written as individual kanji or kana. For example, the kanji 好 in 好き, meaning "like, enjoy" may be split into 女子 (the kanji for woman and child, respectively).
In addition to the basic obfuscation provided by character replacement, another technique used to disguise the content of the message is to use vocabulary and grammar that is uncharacteristic of standard usage.
Combined with character substitution, this can make the meaning of the message almost unintelligible to those not “in the know”.
This is analogous to the use of leet’s specialized grammar.
However, the flexible nature of the Japanese language
means that although gyaru-moji phrases sound peculiar to someone expecting formal or even commonly colloquial Japanese, they are often technically still grammatically correct.
For example, the sentence (“Watashi wa ima totemo yoi kibun desu.”) is “Right now I am feeling very good.” in standard normal-polite Japanese.
By first rewording this as or (“Chōkimochi ii!”) – which roughly translates as “(I have a) Super good feeling!” – and then converting to gyaru-moji to get or , the message could prove difficult for those not versed in the style to understand.
The style has been met with increasing criticism, as its use continues to expand. Reported instances of girls using the writing in school work, OL
s (Office Ladies) adopting the style in the workplace, and gyaru-moji being used in karaoke
subtitling, are examples of this.
followed by romaji, and then various versions of the Japanese character in gyaru moji. Chart in picture file is also available :Image:Gyaru moji table.jpg.
characters are followed by their reading and meaning, and the gyaru-moji derived from them:
→ → →
Cant (language)
A Cant is the jargon or argot of a group, often implying its use to exclude or mislead people outside the group.-Derivation in Celtic linguistics:...
) Japanese writing
Japanese writing system
The modern Japanese writing system uses three main scripts:*Kanji, adopted Chinese characters*Kana, a pair of syllabaries , consisting of:...
popular amongst Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese young people. It is also called Heta-moji (heta means poor (in hand writing)). Like the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
phenomenon of SMS language
SMS language
SMS language or textese is a term for the abbreviations and slang most commonly used due to the necessary brevity of mobile phone text messaging, in particular the widespread SMS SMS language or textese (also known as txt-speak, txtese, chatspeak, txt, txtspk, txtk, txto, texting language, txt...
, it is most often used for sending cell phone text messages, but while text is used as a form of informal shorthand, a message typed in gyaru-moji usually requires more characters and effort than the same message typed in plain Japanese. Since writing in gyaru-moji requires extra effort, and due to the perception of confidentiality
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is an ethical principle associated with several professions . In ethics, and in law and alternative forms of legal resolution such as mediation, some types of communication between a person and one of these professionals are "privileged" and may not be discussed or divulged to...
, sending gyaru-moji messages to a peer is seen as a sign of informality or friendship. The origins of this style is unclear but it has been proposed that magazines targeted at teenage girls first made it popular, and the phenomenon started to gain wider attention in media around 2002.
Like leet
Leet
Leet , also known as eleet or leetspeak, is an alternative alphabet for the English language that is used primarily on the Internet. It uses various combinations of ASCII characters to replace Latinate letters...
, gyaru-moji replaces characters with visually similar characters or combinations of characters. Hiragana
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
consisting of connected strokes are replaced by symbols or Greek
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
letters: for example, す (su) may be rendered as the section symbol
Section sign
The section sign , also called the "double S", "sectional symbol" or signum sectiōnis, is a typographical character used mainly to refer to a particular section of a document, such as a legal code. It is frequently used along with the pilcrow , or paragraph sign...
§. Hiragana consisting of detached elements are replaced by sequences of kana, Western letters, or symbols. For example, ほ (ho) may be typed as |ま (vertical barVertical bar
The vertical bar is a character with various uses in mathematics, where it can be used to represent absolute value, among others; in computing and programming and in general typography, as a divider not unlike the interpunct...
and hiragana ma) or
(ま (open parenthesis and ma), け (ke) may be typed as レナ (katakana re na), Iナ (capital i, na), or († (open parenthesis, daggerDagger (typography)
A dagger, or obelisk. is a typographical symbol or glyph. The term "obelisk" derives from Greek , which means "little obelus"; from meaning "roasting spit"...
), and た (ta) may be typed as
ナ= (katakana na, equals sign) or †こ (dagger, hiragana ko). KatakanaKatakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
is frequently replaced by similar-looking kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
, such as 世 for セ (se) or 干 for チ (chi), in a reversal of the process that turned man'yōgana into kana
Kana
Kana are the syllabic Japanese scripts, as opposed to the logographic Chinese characters known in Japan as kanji and the Roman alphabet known as rōmaji...
. Kana and rōmaji may be mixed freely, even within a word, and Latin letters
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
in rōmaji may be replaced with similar-looking Cyrillic letters, such as replacing N with И (Cyrillic I
I (Cyrillic)
I is a letter used in almost all ancient and modern Cyrillic alphabets.It commonly represents the close front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨i⟩ in "machine", or the near-close near-front unrounded vowel , like the pronunciation of ⟨i⟩ in "bin".-History:The Cyrillic letter I was...
). Compound kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
are decomposed into left and right elements, which are written as individual kanji or kana. For example, the kanji 好 in 好き, meaning "like, enjoy" may be split into 女子 (the kanji for woman and child, respectively).
In addition to the basic obfuscation provided by character replacement, another technique used to disguise the content of the message is to use vocabulary and grammar that is uncharacteristic of standard usage.
Combined with character substitution, this can make the meaning of the message almost unintelligible to those not “in the know”.
This is analogous to the use of leet’s specialized grammar.
However, the flexible nature of the Japanese language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
means that although gyaru-moji phrases sound peculiar to someone expecting formal or even commonly colloquial Japanese, they are often technically still grammatically correct.
For example, the sentence (“Watashi wa ima totemo yoi kibun desu.”) is “Right now I am feeling very good.” in standard normal-polite Japanese.
By first rewording this as or (“Chōkimochi ii!”) – which roughly translates as “(I have a) Super good feeling!” – and then converting to gyaru-moji to get or , the message could prove difficult for those not versed in the style to understand.
The style has been met with increasing criticism, as its use continues to expand. Reported instances of girls using the writing in school work, OL
Office lady
An office lady, often abbreviated OL , is a female office worker in Japan who performs generally pink collar tasks such as serving tea and secretarial or clerical work. Like many unmarried Japanese, OLs often live with their parents well into early adulthood...
s (Office Ladies) adopting the style in the workplace, and gyaru-moji being used in karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
subtitling, are examples of this.
A conversion chart
The original Japanese hiraganaHiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
followed by romaji, and then various versions of the Japanese character in gyaru moji. Chart in picture file is also available :Image:Gyaru moji table.jpg.
- あ a： ぁ・ァ・了
- い i： ぃ・ィ・ﾚヽ・ﾚ丶・レ）・ﾚ`・L丶・Lヽ
- う u： ぅ・ゥ・宀・ヴ
- え e： ぇ・ェ・之・工・ヱ
- お o： ぉ・ォ・才・汚
- か ka： ｶゝ・ｶ丶・ｶヽ・ｶ`・ｶゞ【が】
- き ki： (ｷ・(≠・L≠・‡
- く ku： ＜・〈・勹
- け ke： ヶ・(ﾅ・ﾚ†・ﾚﾅ・|ナ・l+・Iﾅ
- こ ko： 〓・=・
] ・⊃
- さ sa： 廾・±・(十・L+
- し shi： ι・∪
- す su： ￡
- せ se： 世・Ш
- そ so： ξ・ζ・`ﾉ・丶/・ヽ丿
- た ta： ﾅ=・+=・†ﾆ・ﾅﾆ
- ち chi： 干・千・于・5
- つ tsu： っ・ッ・⊃
- て te： τ・〒
- と to： ┠・┝・┣・├
- な na： ﾅょ・十ょ・†ょ・ﾅg
- に ni： (ﾆ・|=・丨ﾆ・L=・I=・
- ぬ nu： йu
- ね ne： йё
- の no： /・丿・σ
- は ha： ﾊ〃【バ】・ﾊo【パ】・'`・八・l￡・(￡・ﾉ|・ﾉl・ﾚ￡
- ひ hi： ﾋ〃【ビ】・ﾋo【ピ】・匕
- ふ fu： ﾌ〃【ブ】・ﾌo【プ】・ヴ
- へ he： ﾍ〃【べ】・ﾍo【ペ】・～
- ほ ho： ﾎ〃【ボ】・ﾎo【ポ】・朮
- ま ma： ма・мα
- み mi： 彡
- む mu： ￡′・厶
- め me： ×・x・χ・乂
- も mo： м○・мσ
- や ya： ゃ・ャ
- ゆ yu： ゅ・ュ・ф
- よ yo： ょ・ョ・∋・чｏ
- ら ra： яа
- り ri： L|・l)・ﾚ｣・ﾚ)・┗』・└丿
- る ru： ゐ・ゑ・儿・lﾚ・｣レ
- れ re： яё
- ろ ro： з・З・□・回
- わ wa： ゎ・ヮ・wα
- を wo： щo
- ん n： ω・冫・ｗ・h
- ー (long vowel mark)： →・⇒
Compound Kanji
Here are some examples of gyaru-moji created from compound kanji. The KanjiKanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
characters are followed by their reading and meaning, and the gyaru-moji derived from them:
→ → →
Examples
| Usual Japanese writing | Gyaru moji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Good morning | ||
| Pokémon Pokémon is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video... |
||
| I like Takeshi. |
See also
- Japanese typographic symbolsJapanese typographic symbolsThis page lists Japanese typographic symbols which are not included in kana or kanji.The links in the Unicode column lead to the Unihan database.-Repetition marks:-Brackets and quotation marks:-Phonetic marks:-Punctuation marks:...
for explanations of some of the above Japanese symbols. - EmojiEmojiis the Japanese term for the picture characters or emoticons used in Japanese electronic messages and webpages. Originally meaning pictograph, the word literally means e "picture" + moji "letter". The characters are used much like emoticons elsewhere, but a wider range is provided, and the icons...